Spotted While Playing Soccer in Flushing Meadows Park Leads to a Tryout With the Leon Under-20s for Niko Touros

By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association

January 29, 2014-While playing for Alianza de Futbol Hispano last summer at Flushing Meadows Park, Nikolas Touros was seen by scout Ricardo Enriquez. His stellar play earned him a tryout with the Under-20’s of the Mexican champions Leon. Niko played in Mexico from January 14 to 28. His tryout went well and he has been invited to return in June after graduating from high school.

He is a product of the city game, playing for his parents’ club Kosmos FC of the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League (CJSL) since he was a little boy. Niko was born in 1996, the same year that Kosmos FC was founded. His parents, Andreas and Joanne Touros, cannot be more proud of their son. Andreas, who coached Niko all his life with Kosmos FC, stated, “Not because he is my son, but Niko is special as he always had the drive to succeed, even at a young age when he was playing against kids two years older, you saw it.”

The Bellerose resident, who just turned 18 on January 11, credits his parents and the competition he faced for making him the player he is today. Niko said, “To make it down there would be a dream come true for me, it would tell me that working so hard my whole life was worth it. It would be enough to give back to my parents for all the countless training sessions and sacrifices they’ve endured for me. I've played in the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League since I was six years old, and the competition they provided, helped me become the player I am today.”

With him playing both midfielder and forward, Niko’s Kosmos FC teams won the CJSL championship four times and the City Cup twice.

Niko also played for the Olympic Development Program of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) and served as the captain for Francis Lewis High School in Queens.

He is no stranger to competition at the highest level as he has participated in Nike 2.0 The Chance Competition, placing as a top 50 player nationally and he represented New York at Nike headquarters in Oregon. Niko also played with the New York Stars (Italian-American Soccer League) team in February 2013 that participated in the prestigious Viareggio Coppa Carnavale tournament in Viareggio, Italy, where he played against youth teams from Napoli, Lecce and Hungary’s Honved Budapest.

With 123,843 youth soccer players––68,587 boys and 55,256 girls––and more than 25,000 volunteers, the non-profit Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) stretches from Montauk Point, Long Island to the Canadian border. Members are affiliated with 11 leagues throughout the association, which covers the entire state of New York east of Route 81. ENYYSA exists to promote and enhance the game of soccer for children and teenagers between the ages of 5 and 19 years old, and to encourage the healthy development of youth players, coaches, referees and administrators. All levels of soccer are offered––from intramural, travel team and premier players as well as Special Children. No child who wants to play soccer is turned away. ENYYSA is a proud member of the United States Soccer Federation and United States Youth Soccer Association. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.